Progress

The work Progress has been used as a vehicle to explore loss and regeneration through a series of audio visual experiments and installations. Starting out as a protest piece to demonstrate the irreversible damage caused to a buildings fabric for athetic reasons and leading to a story about death, grieving and repair.

Narrative steps

#1 destruction, #2 ice and fire, #3 repair

Coda

Mapping a final chapter in life, Progress represents a story of loss and regeneration. The work represent the relentless progress of the disease Vascular Dementia. A disease which over time consumed my mother.

Installation

One or more melting ice blocks used to create and repeat an installation to explore the theme of ‘loss and regeneration'.

Components

The ice block consists of two equally sized parts bolted together using a threaded rod. At the top of the threaded rod is a suspension eye with a long jute rope attached. Below the ice block is a concave plate with a small hole in the middle. This plate is designed to collect water droplets from the melting ice block. Below the collection plate is a vessel to receive the water funnelled down through the hole. Attached to the collection plate is a vibration sensor. The sensor is connected to a circuit board or computer which translates the vibration into data. The data is used to trigger light sources or video projection equipment. An optional video camera may be used to capture the installation to input into the computer for further processing to create a feedback loop of the scene.

Experimenting with kinetics, sound and feedback loops.

Video documentation from the first installation – Starting out as a technical exercise and later starting its journey into new narratives. As the light fades the installation morphs into film noir territory as if waiting for its protagonist to appear. Train lines close to the installation added to the scene with strong electromagnetic fields interacting with the sound equipment. This was the seed which started the work 'Progress'.

Lattitude/Longitude: 51.53368, -023848